By Foster Akpore | Ado Ekiti | October 17, 2025
At the international conference on leadership and governance for sustainable change and wealth creation held at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, Dr Otive Igbuzor delivered a keynote address titled “Transformational Leadership in an Insecure and Disruptive Era: Building Ethical, Resilient, and Impactful Leaders for Africa.”
Dr Igbuzor commended the conveners—Afe Babalola University, Trinity Western University, and the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy & Development (Centre LSD)—for addressing a theme he described as “urgent and timeless.” He said Africa stands at a crossroads defined by both peril and promise, challenged by insecurity, inequality, and moral decay, yet equipped with a youthful population and growing creative potential.
Citing Chinua Achebe’s well-known assertion that Nigeria’s problem is “a failure of leadership,” he said the statement remains true for much of Africa. He urged leaders to embrace transformational leadership—a model grounded in vision, integrity, and moral courage. Unlike transactional leaders who rely on power and rules, transformational leaders, he said, “inspire, innovate, and institutionalize systems that outlive them.”
Dr Igbuzor identified insecurity, corruption, and weak institutions as symptoms of deeper leadership failures. He described today’s world as one of “volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, disruption, and diversity (VUCADD),” noting that leaders must be adaptive, visionary, and ethically grounded to navigate it. He emphasized that leadership can be taught, citing Centre LSD’s Leadership School, which has trained over 3,000 leaders across Africa.
He outlined five pillars of transformational leadership—vision, values, problem-solving, influence, and adaptability—and said ethical grounding remains its foundation. Drawing from African moral traditions such as Ubuntu and Omoluabi, he stressed that ethics and accountability must define leadership in both governance and society.
Resilience, Impact, and the Leadership Imperative
According to Dr Igbuzor, resilient leaders learn from failure and adapt rather than collapse under pressure. Impactful leaders, he said, “move beyond rhetoric to measurable action—they design systems that serve people, build accountability into governance, and ensure that progress is inclusive.”
Quoting Bass and Avolio (1994), he described transformational leaders as “change agents who mobilize followers around values and vision rather than fear or coercion.” He explained that such leaders must possess vision and purpose, with a clear sense of direction and the courage to pursue long-term goals even in the face of adversity. They must also uphold values and integrity, recognizing that resilience without ethics becomes manipulation, and impact without morality amounts to exploitation. Transformational leaders, he added, must demonstrate adaptability and innovation by turning crises into opportunities through creative problem-solving. Finally, they must embrace mentorship and multiplication, raising others to sustain leadership success beyond their own tenure.
He reinforced Myles Munroe’s (2008) view that “true leaders are ordinary people placed under extraordinary circumstances that bring forth their latent potential.”
Transformational leaders, he added, build systems—not personal empires—and institutions rather than cults of personality. He maintained that leadership, governance, and institutional strength are inseparable, arguing that “where leadership fails, governance falters, and institutions decay.”
Referencing Igbuzor (2018) and Ake (1996), he said Africa’s crisis is primarily political, not economic, rooted in weak governance and institutional failure. He proposed reforms centered on transparent civil service systems, judicial independence, participatory governance, and continuous institutional renewal.
Dr Igbuzor described this century as Africa’s defining moment—one where ethics and innovation must converge. He urged African governments and civil society to rebuild moral consciousness and cultivate innovation ecosystems that empower youth. “Ethics must become the currency of African leadership,” he said, adding that without moral reform, no technological or economic progress can endure.
He presented five imperatives for Africa’s future: ethical leadership, innovative education, institutional integrity, inclusive governance, and continental collaboration.
“The Africa we want,” he said, “will not be imported; it will be imagined, built, and led by Africans who believe that transformation begins with integrity and innovation.”
In closing, Dr Igbuzor called on leaders across sectors to rise above complacency and cynicism to reimagine Africa’s destiny. He urged schools and universities to make leadership formation as essential as literacy, and governments to reform systems that reward merit over mediocrity.
“Africa must lead with conscience, govern with courage, and innovate with compassion,” he said. “Leadership remains both Africa’s greatest challenge and its greatest opportunity. The insecurity and disruptions of our time are not signs of defeat but invitations to courage.”
He concluded with a call to action: “Let us build leaders who are ethical in conduct, resilient in adversity, and impactful in service—leaders who transform society and harness disruption for progress. May this conference ignite a continental movement that rebuilds trust, renews hope, and reclaims Africa’s destiny.”